The IZOD IndyCar Series championship took another twist tonight as Dario Franchitti held off Dan Wheldon by .0423 of a second to win the Peak Antifreeze/Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
But even more importantly, the Scotsman emerged with a major gain on championship leader Will Power with three races left in the 2010 season. Power was running in the top five when he was forced to pit with less than five laps to go for a splash of fuel. He was credited with a 16th place finish and his lead in the championship over Franchitti is now just 23 points.
Franchitti and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team took a gamble on their final stop of the night by foregoing tires. But the decision enabled him to beat Power out of pit road and from there, he was able to keep Wheldon and Marco Andretti behind him for the final 22 laps to claim his 26th victory in IRL/Champ Car competition.
Andretti Autosport drivers Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan went third, fourth, and fifth respectively. The top ten was completed by Helio Castroneves, Justin Wilson, Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira and Graham Rahal.
More to come later tonight…
